Feb
06
I’m pretty sure after yesterday coverage of Super Tuesday a lot of you are wondering what’s the deal with that humongous iPhone looking multi-touch screen they have in the Situation Room. No? Ok, maybe is just me then.
CNN likes to call it “The Magic Wall”, and I have to say it’s amazing gestural interface (a la minority report) not only sets a milestone on data visualization but also provides a total different perspective for the audience, so I decided to research more on the technology behind it and I found a few interesting things about it.
What makes The Magic Wall tick is a unique technology invented by Jefferson Han, founder of Perceptive Pixel, the company who sold the solution to CNN.
But this not a typical touch screen. It’s complex proprietary operative system respond not only to gesture movement but also to different types of pressure and friction coming from multiple touches/users.
The advantages of this are enormous, since it allows the people on the studio to interact with data, manipulate video and explore maps in real time.
How long you ask? 2 Years. Jeff Han presented (for the first time publicly) the high-resolution multi-touch computer screen at TED 2006 Conference in Monterey, CA in February 2006. Keep in mind the iPhone wasn’t even announced until January 2007.
The demo, which drew spontaneous applause and audible gasps from the audience, begins with a simple lava lamp, then turns into a virtual photo-editing tabletop, where Han flicks photos across the screen as if they were paper snapshots.
You can watch Han’s TED presentation here:
All you need to get is $ 100,000, at least that’s what CNN paid for the entire solution, and according to it’s Senior VP, Daniel Bohrman “We will be using it a lot over the next year”. Heck, if I pay 100 grand for a screen I will probably even drive it to work every day.
Here’s the official Perceptive Pixel Technology Reel.
You can find out more about it by going to www.perceptivepixel.com
